As expats, sometimes we don't know how to start in a new country. We might not even be allowed to work.

Well, you don't need a work permit for volunteering. And, in most cases, a NGO will be happy to have you as a volunteer. Here’s our experience with volunteering.

How is it in your country? Is volunteering something that people do? What’s your personal experience with volunteering?

Please, share your stories with us in the comments below.

Here’s how Cecilia describes why she chose to volunteer for an NGO that worked with artisans while living in Argentina.

Well, she had many reasons:

1. I needed flexibility to travel back home often for family reasons. A formal job would have made that very difficult: FLEXIBILITY

2. It filled that gap in my Resume: PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

3. I love handcrafts: EXPLORE MY INTERESTS

4. I've always had the dream of opening a Latin American handcrafts shop. I wanted to learn how it worked: LEARN A NEW SKILL

5. I needed to feel useful: PERSONAL SATISFACTION AND SELF ESTEEM

6. I didn't know anybody in Buenos Aires apart from my husband's work colleagues and I wanted to have my own tribe: MEET PEOPLE

7. It gave me something to look forward in the mornings: REDUCE STRESS

So, here’s our tip. Find something that interests you, anything! Tell us in the comments what it is and then set out to find an organization that works in that field. By sharing it with us, you can get help from our community.

Oxana Holtmann is a Conscious Living coach and an advisor to globally mobile professionals and their life partners. She is the founder of Oxana Holtmann International, a coaching platform that promotes true homecoming through mindfulness, body intelligence, wonder and co-creativity at work and in relationships. Oxana loves writing, discovering and disseminating practical wisdom, and noticing everyday beauty. Oxana grew up in Siberia and now lives with her family in Washington, D.C.

Oxana Holtmann International

Oxana Holtmann is a Conscious Leadership and Relationship coach. She is the founder of Conscious Global Living, a coaching platform that promotes emotional intelligence, creativity, and play in relationships and work.